''Lycogrammoides'' is a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Zoarcidae The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family (biology), family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance. All of the roughly 300 species are ocean, marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. Eel ...

, the

eelpout The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance. All of the roughly 300 species are marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. Eelpouts are predominantly ...

s. Its only species is ''Lycogrammoides schmidti'', a rare species of the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Lycogrammoides'' was first proposed as a

in 1928 by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

Vladimir Soldatov Vladimir Konstantinovich Soldatov (russian: Владимир Константинович Солдатов, 15 July 1875 – 31 January 1941) was a Russian and Soviet ichthyologist, zoologist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor of the Departm ...

and Georgiĭ Ustinovich Lindberg when they described ''Lycogrammoides schmidti''. The type locality of this species is Tauyskaya Bay, off Ol'skii Island in the northern

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

at a depth of . This genus is classified within the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Lycodinae Lycodinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. These eelpouts are found are in all the world's oceans, with a number of species being found off southern South America. Taxonomy Lycodinae was f ...

, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. This genus is the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to '' Bothrocara'', '' Bothrocarina'' and ''

Lycodapus Lycodapus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The species in this genus are found in the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Taxonomy ''Lycodapus'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1890 by ...

'', and these four genera form a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

within the subfamily Lycodinae.

Etymology

''Lycogrammoides'' means having the form of ''Lycogrammus'', a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''Bothrocara''. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the Soviet ichthyologist and worker on the fishes of the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

, Peter Schmidt.

Characteristics

''Lycogrammoides'' is characterised within the Lycodinae by having 6 suborbital bones and 6, rarely 7, pores.The males have canine like teeth. The flesh is gelatinous and scales extend quite far on to the head, reaching the cheek and nose. There is a

pseudobranch The pseudobranch, also pseudobranchia is the reduced first gill arch of a fish (on the inner surface of the opercle, near the junction of the preopercle) as well as a reduced "false" gill in some gastropods. In teleost fish, the pseudobranchs are m ...

, a pyloric caeca, a lateral line, vomerine and palatine teeth while they lack an oral valve and pelvic fins. There are 9 fin rays in the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

. ''L. schmidti'' has a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Lycogrammoides'' is only known from the Sea of Okhotsk’s outer shelf. It is a demersal fish found at depths between .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2881833, from2=Q951965 Lycodinae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera